Gov. Landry hopeful for full FEMA relief from Francine; Scalise slams federal flood policy

Gov. Jeff Landry addresses reporters at a news conference Sept. 13, 2024, on the recovery from Hurricane Francine at Signature Aviation in Kenner. U.S. House Majority Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell and Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng listen behind the governor. (Greg LaRose/Louisiana Illuminator)

KENNER – Hurricane Francine, which brought widespread power outages and moderate flooding to Louisiana two days ago, revealed the region’s lingering wounds from Hurricane Ida three years ago, Gov. Jeff Landry said Friday.

The governor and his wife joined several New Orleans-area officials, some who were accompanying him on a helicopter tour of storm damage, for a news conference at the Signature Aviation terminal near Armstrong International Airport.

The Biden administration’s top disaster response official joined Landry for a helicopter tour Thursday, which the governor said should help convince the White House of the need for recovery dollars in Louisiana. The aerial inspection also showed Federal Emergency Management Administrator Deanne Criswell how flood protection projects spared Terrebonne Parish from more extensive flood damage, he said.

Roof damage was also limited from Francine, according to the governor, which he attributed in part to the ability of homeowners to rebuild stronger after Ida. This, combined with a proven levee system, should bring down insurance premiums, Landry said, starting with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) that provides coverage of last resort in areas where the private market won’t write policies.

“There should be no excuse,” Landry said. “There really should be no excuse to increase premiums just because of this storm.”

The governor and Louisiana’s congressional delegation have been part of a bipartisan push to get FEMA to revise its risk assessments for flood-prone areas. They insist the latest version, referred to as Risk Rating 2.0, doesn’t fully take into account flood protection and storm resiliency investments dating back to past disasters. These started with the recovery after hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005 and the devastating floods of 2016 in the Baton Rouge region.

U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, who joined Landry at the news conference, was less optimistic that FEMA would adjust its flood insurance program rates.

“It’s been a complete failure,” Scalise said. “We have been pressing for over two years for FEMA to just explain how it works.”

The majority leader was even more pointed when asked if Francine’s impact would convince the Biden administration to place a more urgent emphasis on revisiting NFIP premiums.

“I’m not confident in FEMA right now running the NFIP program,” Scalise said. “FEMA works with us on a lot of other things, so I’m not going to disparage them completely. The way they’ve run the NFIP program has been a complete disaster that has wrecked communities in places just like south Louisiana, and we’re far from the only one.”

Landry said the state would keep FEMA updated on damage reports from Francine, and that Criswell understood the billions of dollars spent in Louisiana to reduce the impact of hurricanes.

“We should get a credit for it,” the governor said.

Landry and members of Congress from Louisiana have asked President Biden to consider a full reimbursement of the state’s Francine recovery costs, which have to exceed the state’s capacity to pay for them.

Power outage progress

Landry said power outages appear to be the biggest impact from Francine, which at its peak knocked out electricity to more than 450,000 customers. He stressed the need for more grid infrastructure improvements, which he credited with keeping the lights on in Louisiana’s lone inhabited barrier island.

“You see things like down in Grand Isle, where they didn’t even lose power this time,” the governor said. “Normally, they used to lose power when there was a bad thunderstorm.”

As of 4 p.m. Friday, there were just over 80,000 customers left to reconnect in the Entergy Louisiana footprint, 5,600 for Entergy New Orleans and nearly 2,800 for Cleco. Various electric co-operatives and municipal power providers reported significant progress bringing customers back on line.

Utility regulator Eric Skrmetta, who represents District 1 on the Louisiana Public Service Commissioner, said in an interview he was pleased with efforts to restore power.

“You’re talking about from 450,000-plus down to 120,000 plus [outages] in 45 hours,” Skrmetta said regarding Entergy’s response. “By anybody’s standard, that’s a great recovery.”

The highest number of Entergy’s remaining outages was in Terrebonne Parish, where more than 19,500 customers await electricity. Lafourche was next with more than 15,000, followed by Jefferson Parish with more than 12,600.

Cleco’s outages were concentrated in St. Mary Parish, where almost 3,200 customers were without power mid-Friday afternoon.

New Orleans drainage delays

The governor was asked whether he would make good on his promise to provide the Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans $29 million it has requested from the state to cover the remaining cost of a local power station at its main plant. The facility currently relies on outdated turbines and backup generators that frequently fail to power its drainage, sewage treatment and drinking water system.

While Francine’s heavy rains would have flooded the city regardless, power problems led to delays in clearing water. New Orleans officials sought money from the state to pay for a portion of the new Entergy substation, but legislators did not include it in the capital outlay budget finalized in early June. At the time, Landry said he would work to find the needed money from other sources.

With Mayor LaToya Cantrell and S&WB executive director Ghassan Korban standing behind him, the governor was asked Friday whether he would promise to provide the $29 million needed for the power substation.

Landry did not expressly commit to that dollar amount but said he would “go back and find where that pot of money is.” He hinted that more scrutiny is needed over the ample federal resources already provided to New Orleans from previous natural disasters.

“This area has received billions of dollars, and the question is: Why are we in the same position?” Landry said.

The federal government provided $76 billion to Louisiana for its recovery from Hurricane Katrina, which was estimated to have caused $125 billion in damages . More than $14 billion was spent to repair the federal flood protection system that failed in the storm, and nearly the same amount went toward the Road Home program that helped homeowners repair their properties or bought houses from residents who chose not to return.

Allocations for subsequent storms that caused major damage in Louisiana — Gustav and Ike in 2008, Isaac in 2012, the great floods of 2016, Laura and Delta in 2020, and Ida in 2021 — brought far less money from Washington, D.C.

Landry said he intended to continue discussions with the city, Sewerage and Water Board, state and federal decisions to determine how to address problems with New Orleans’ drainage infrastructure.

“We plan to work very closely with them to make sure that the money that we’re going to spend is going to go where it’s needed the most,” he said.

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